Nightly Grades: Big night of hoops for the holiday

Each night, Eye on Basketball brings you what you need to know about the games of the NBA. From great performances to terrible clock management the report card evaluates and eviscerates the good, the bad, and the ugly from the night that was.

Each night, Eye on Basketball brings you what you need to know about the games of the NBA. From great performances to terrible clock management the report card evaluates and eviscerates the good, the bad, and the ugly from the night that was.

Team

Grade

Analysis

B

The
Charlotte Hornets
took care of the ball (eight turnover in an overtime game), shot incredibly well from downtown (10-of-18), and had 30 assists on 43 made shots. This was a great performance from the team, highlighted by
Kemba Walker
's 25-point, 10-assists, and nine-rebound effort. But they get just a "B" because it shouldn't take overtime at home against this
Milwaukee Bucks
team.

B+

This really couldn't have worked out better for the Bucks.
Brandon Knight
had a monster game with 26 points and 14 assists.
John Henson
(14 points, nine rebounds, six blocks) had a great game off the bench. And a two-point jumper (foot on the line) at the buzzer gave Milwaukee the one-point loss. Good effort from young guys and a competitive loss that helps the lottery odds is a win-win for them.

A

This one was never really in doubt. The
Detroit Pistons
completely dominated the
Cleveland Cavaliers
on every level.
Josh Smith
was impossible for the Cavs to match up with and
Brandon Jennings
carved them up all night. Pure domination.

F

Andrew Bynum
was 0-of-11 in this game for zero points. None of the attempts were 3-pointers. And somehow it doesn't feel like he was the worst Cavs player in this game.

C+

The
New York Knicks
played about as well as you can in the first half of this game. They built up a huge lead with a 36-14 second quarter and looked like the team from last season when they were clicking at their finest. Then they nearly gave the lead completely back. Orlando cut it to one in the fourth quarter but the Knicks managed to hold on in a game in which they lost
Carmelo Anthony
to an ankle injury.

D+

Orlando Magic
only played six people in the second half as they nearly erased a 24-point halftime deficit.
Arron Afflalo
had 16 points in the second half alone and they held New York to just 36.8 percent from the field in the final 24 minutes. Just can't allow such a big lead for the opposition.

A

I don't know if this "
Lance Stephenson
should be an All-Star" talk is just hyperbole but he's continuing to be a big driving force in the best team in the East. He had 26 points Monday night as the
Indiana Pacers
blew the
Brooklyn Nets
out of the water. That third quarter domination is a staple of the Pacers.

D+

Paul Pierce
getting ejected for a flagrant foul was about the only fight the Nets seemed to put up Monday. The team missed 20 of their 26 3-point attempts and
Joe Johnson
,
Andray Blatche
, and
Jason Terry
were the only acceptable players on the night for Brooklyn.

A

The
Miami Heat
's victory over the
Atlanta Hawks
was easily the game of the night. It was an incredibly well-executed contest that saw a 38-point effort from
LeBron James
and big contributions from
Ray Allen
and
Chris Andersen
. Two big free throws by
Michael Beasley
won the game for the Heat too.

A-

Hawks have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about from this game. They made 17 of their 34 3-point shots and received praise for their execution after the game from LeBron James. The trio of
Paul Millsap
,
Al Horford
, and
Jeff Teague
showed this team is in good hands. The Hawks are the third best team in the East and hung with the NBA champs.

B+

The third quarter and
Dirk Nowitzki
were the big difference in this game for the
Dallas Mavericks
. A huge 36-21 advantage in the third gave the Mavericks the cushion they needed to secure a nice road victory for them. Mavs shot the ball extremely well with a 50.6/50.0/87.0 split for percentages.

B-

No
James Harden
, no
Patrick Beverley
, and no
Omer Asik
. That's probably the difference between the
Houston Rockets
being able to grind out this victory and falling short of their goal.
Dwight Howard
,
Chandler Parsons
, and
Jeremy Lin
were great but the team was too sloppy with the ball.

B+

Zach Randolph
was the catalyst for the
Memphis Grizzlies
with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. However, the big key for the Grizzlies grinding out this victory was the play of the bench. 51 points from the reserve players, led by 17 points from
Jerryd Bayless
. Grizzlies need a full team effort until
Marc Gasol
is back.

C+

The
Utah Jazz
didn't really have a bad game in any respect, they just didn't have enough firepower and defense to keep up with a hot Memphis bench.
Gordon Hayward
and
Derrick Favors
had nice games but
Enes Kanter
was basically a no-show again for them.

A-

The
Tim Duncan
crossover video above is an accurate representation of how this game went for both the
San Antonio Spurs
and the
Toronto Raptors
.
Tony Parker
led the way with 26 points.

C

Kyle Lowry
and
Terrence Ross
each dropped 23 points, but the Raptors giving up 34 points in the fourth quarter was probably not the way to steal a road victory against the Spurs.

B-

Stephen Curry
and
Klay Thompson
didn't give the
Golden State Warriors
much of the outside attack that tore down the
Denver Nuggets
in the 2012 playoffs. But
David Lee
managed to provide the scoring load to eek out the road win.

C+

The Nuggets without
Kenneth Faried
seem to lack a certain energy. They certainly could have used that against the Warriors in a game in which they couldn't find a spark.
Ty Lawson
,
Timofey Mozgov
, and
Andre Miller
were all solid but there simply wasn't enough support.

A+

This was a laugher pretty early in the second half and
Gerald Green
ended up being the leading scorer in the game with 22 points. The
Phoenix Suns
annihilated the
Los Angeles Lakers
on the boards 62-39, and bombed from outside.

D

The biggest positive I can find for the Lakers in this game is they only gave up eight points on their 11 turnovers. So that's something?

B+

Tyreke Evans
returned to Sacramento to remind the Kings that he was once a big part of their future. He had 25 points, 12 assists, and six assists off the bench for the
New Orleans Pelicans
, and the defense stymied the
Sacramento Kings
at the end of the game.

C+

The Kings had just one made field goal in the final five-plus minutes, which is not how you close out a game if you're hoping to win.
DeMarcus Cousins
dominated for much of this game and
Isaiah Thomas
was great scoring the ball. But
Rudy Gay
and
Jason Thompson
combined for just 11 points on 2-of-16 from the field.

Zach Harper likes basketball. Some would even say he loves it. He's also an enthusiast for everything Ricky Davis, Rasheed Wallace, Nic Cage, and has seen the movie Gigli almost three times. He's been...
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